"[Cydney Payton's] greatest accomplishment was 2006's Decades of Influence and its followup, Remix. These shows attempted the not-inconsiderable task of surveying contemporary art in Colorado from 1985 to the present through the work of around 100 artists. [...] The show was a groundbreaker, representing the first attempt by anyone to codify the current period into a historical context and establishing the credibility of recent Colorado art.”

—Michael Paglia, Westword, Thursday July 24, 2008

In 2006 MCA DENVER undertook its most ambitious initiative to date presenting the first survey of contemporary Colorado art, Decades of Influences: Colorado Art 1985 to Present. Unpacking decades of artistic production this curatorial challenge required installations across four venues—MCA DENVER Sakura Square, Metro Center for the Visual Art of Metropolitan State University of Denver, The Gates Sculpture Triangle, and Carol Keller Project Space. The scope of the project was unprecedented in the history of Colorado art.

What would a discussion about or exhibition of contemporary art be without controversy? Decades was indeed controversial largely due to those artist who were excluded from representation in the original series of exhibitions. While each venue drew historic numbers of viewers into dialogue about the histories of Colorado art the need to address criticisms seemed essential and potentially game changing. To move the debate about geographic displacement, 80’s multiculturalism, the impact of early and late modernism, and alternative galleries further I curated Extended Remix. With this reinstallment closer alignments between generations of artists and their artistic output were brought into view; histories of media, thematics, and art movements became traceable. For example, Extended Remix revealed the influence of painter George Woodman’s abstraction based in geometric form known as Pattern and Decoration on conceptualist painter Clark Richert and subsequently on several generations of artists influenced by Richert’s teachings at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. The impact of Ruth Thorne Thomsen’s photographic collage aesthetic was revealed in artworks that emerged a decade later such as Jeff Starr’s painterly and surrealistic landscapes. The groundbreaking influence of ceramic artist and sculptor Betty Woodman became transparent through ceramic installations by Kim Dickey and Scott Chamberlin. To document Decades of Influence: Colorado Art 1985 to present and Extended Remix a catalogue was created with contributions from artists Jack Balas and Kim Dickey, art writers Lucy Lippard with J. Gluckstern, critic Jennifer Heath, art historian and art and architecture writer Michael Paglia, and art historian Deanna Pytlinski. Their critical voices broadened the historical debate one which continues to unfold.